Final answer:
Situational factors are external conditions that influence behavior, such as the environment's complexity and unexpected events. Dispositional factors are internal traits like personality. The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overvalue dispositional factors and undervalue situational influences when explaining others' actions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Situational factors refer to external conditions that influence a person's behavior. Two major situational factors that affect attention include the complexity of the environment and unexpected events. For example, a complex environment with lots of stimuli can either grab our attention or cause us to focus more selectively depending on our goals. Similarly, unexpected events typically capture our attention naturally because they deviate from our expectations and may require immediate action or assessment.
In contrast, dispositional factors are internal traits such as personality characteristics and temperament that can also impact our behavior and attention. While situational factors are external and more related to the immediate environment, dispositional factors are tied to the individual's inherent qualities.
The fundamental attribution error highlights a common bias where people overemphasize dispositional factors when explaining others' behaviors, often overlooking the situational influences. For instance, if someone behaves rudely, we may quickly assume that they are a rude person (dispositional) rather than consider they might be having a bad day (situational).